Love Sweeter than Black Honey
by hide-is-not-yoshi69
Summary: The Rose Garden is an area rich in pollen, and to Hide- a simple honeybee- it is the best of taboos. Nobody dares near it, usually, but Hide remains adventuresome. But when Hide is injured and flung into the Garden's thorny depths, he might need some help to make it out alive, if at all... Tags: Hidekane, Gore, Death, Torture (I guess), Emotional Manipulation, etc.full tags insd
Just think- People with insect features and weird as hell biology. Offspring follow either one of their parents- like, a butterfly and spider could have a child, but the child would be a spider, or a butterfly. Not a hybrid. Not to say they won't share equal features aesthetic-wise. It's a stigma to mate with someone who isn't your species- kind of like same-sex relations of interracial or whatever those stanky-ass white republicans bitch about. (Both of those things are cool to everyone in this AU, but like, the same type of stigmtisim, u feel me. Bugs are chill like that.)

I wrote this while listening to Ave Maria and Mozart's Requiem. Ah by Bette Milder. All of them are neat check them out! :)

Here are the full tags, so you know what to expect.

Major Descriptions of Violence, Gore, Suspense, Torture, Yaoi (Who even uses this term any more, we're not twelve any more, but for the sake of the genre...), Freeform, Emotional Manipulation, Squick (maybe). I'll add more as we go on, but I'd love pointers on where you think this should go.

So, go ahead and read, let me know what you think. Comments inspire me hella. (▰˘◡˘▰)

Porcelain skin from a life in the dark; luminescent, white hair- eyes the color of soft dove feathers. That was the Kaneki that Hide knew- the wise, gentle centipede nestled with monsters of every shape. He was a tortured soul, Hide knew.

But he wasn't a monster.

He clung to that even as gore dribbled from the mandibles of that mouth he loved so much, when the supple, elegant tails that once delighted him in their antics pierced the bodies piled around them- when the eyes filled with ravenous bloodlust raked over him with hunger.

He wished it was blood-fervid hunger.

 _ **Oh, how he wished it was that simple**_.

But when the barbed appendages brushed his wings, they were heartbreakingly gentle, ever so careful in enclosing the blonde in their grasp. He sucked in his horrified gasp when the fluids of those he held dear washed over his feet like water- a sickening river of death.

 _"Oh, Hide.."_ the mask crooned, stepping down into the slaughter-filth with him, cupping his face in those crooked hands that ran red with carnage-

 _ **"Why did you run away from me?"**_

Hide struggled heavily to heave his satchel over his shoulder after an enthusiastic donation from the rose he had just finished speaking with. She had chirped and trilled all sorts of compliments in hope of him crossbreeding her pollen with another, handsome plant. Hide was flustered with her descriptions of plant genitalia which fell under a list of thing he had _absolutely no interest in hearing._

So here he was- saddled with a shit-ton of pollen, which was great- and _that_ meant lots of honey, which was also pretty damn good. Hide gave up on ferrying the pouch and instead resigned himself to carrying it like the heavy-as-shit bag it was. He thrummed his wings to get them going- getting off the ground was a pain, and _maybe_ Hide was a less-than-stellar acrobat, but he prided himself on keeping them in impeccable condition. He wasn't the most _graceful_ one in the colony, but he'd be damned if someone said he didn't take care of his wings.

Hide managed to lift off after a good deal of colorful language and effort- and started the slow, slow journey back to the hive for pollen deposit and processing. The going was good- light winds and not too foggy for so early in the morning. A few other honeybees were out and about getting their own pollen and such. None dared near the rose brambles Hide fluttered over. There were a variety of nasty, ferocious insects there who would think nothing of eating the many peaceful folk around them. Arachnids, snakes, _spiders..._ the worst of the worst for a harmless thing like Hide. Not that he'd ever admit that, of course.

Hide knew that the roses here were isolated, but rich in their pollen. Perfect for harvesting; but many of his kin balked at the idea of even going _over_ their forest of thorns and its malicious inhabitants. But Hide was adamant that he could handle himself perfectly fine, and nothing would tempt him or otherwise entice him to descend below the layer of black brambles.

That is, until a weight hit him sideways.

 _Hard._

Hide let out an 'oof' of surprise, and as he was falling snagged his arm on an outcropped rosebush branch. He tumbled through a few layers of leaves before smacking with a _thump_ into the main stalk. He rolled over onto his side, groaning.

"What the _hell_ was that...?" he grumbled, rubbing his sore side. His collected himself quickly, patting down any loose articles…

His bag.

Oh _god_ , his _**bag**_!

Hide whipped around in search of it- and wrenched around only to glimpse it down, far, far below him- a tiny speck on the ground shadowed under the blanket of flowers and spires of pricked vines. Hide cursed and lifted off- perhaps to find someone to help him retrieve it, or more truthfully to get the hell off the precipice. He knew how recluse these bushes were to the hive. No one would come, or look for him- a single honeybee among thousands? Hide threw himself to the wind, panicked enough to risk hurting himself, he had to _**leave-**_

and failed when a sudden bolt of pain shrieked through him at the action. The blonde slumped back onto the branch, glancing hesitantly over his shoulder. His left wing was crumpled and unusable and now that Hide was aware of it, really fucking _hurt_ \- but nothing too fatal. Hide didn't dare let out a scream, to attract the attention of another flier in the case that it attract something far less...savory. He scoured the endless treetops of white roses to see if he had alerted a predator to his presence, and at the paling purple sky for a glimpse of a patrol and found nothing.

Hide glanced at his injured wing- the patterns of it dull and bent. It...would heal. It would.

It had to.

He decided the only thing for it was to clamber down on foot and retrieve the damn thing (maybe find a nice, _non-_ carnivorous flier to give him a ride back), and so he began the slow and arduous climb down. _This_ going was tough- the morning fog was thick here, the air cold and damp. He couldn't see a damn foot in front of him. Along with the dew accumulating on his wings, Hide couldn't help the cold sweat trailing down his back. This was, in a word, no man's land. There was no wasp-guard, no patrols to help a worker in need. Nothing.

He was on his own down here.

Hide grunted when a sliver of branch fell away and forced him to flail for support, grabbing onto a thorn. It scraped his hand roughly, but did not snap. He hissed and clutched it at he searched for another foothold down...

By the time Hide reached the base of the branch, he was worried and downright exhausted. It must have been midday by now, and if he was forced to remain here overnight- there was no way to navigate the sky during the pitch of night- he would most reliably be killed and eaten. His breath escaped him, and he clamped a hand over his mouth to prevent too much noise. The forest of black betrayed none of the outside time- for all he knew it might be night already. The idea that he could already be in the reach of death tied his lungs in knots. Hide doubled over and quietly vomited- shuddered to keep himself quiet during the whole ordeal. The mess splashed on the roots of the blackened bush he leant against.

Hide tried to swallow his panic and his bile- physically shaking with the terror of it.

 _Eaten. Ripped and pulped to pieces. Chewed and swallowed, acid and burning and being digested. Maybe they would keep him alive for weeks- filling him close to bursting with digestive juices and choose to consume him long after he's mushed._

The concept of it tore through his gut like the real thing, making him retch once again with nothing left in him.

Hide slumped down after emptying his already vacant stomach, leaning against the tree. It was a quiet world under the carpet of rosebushes above- it was so far away to Hide now he couldn't see the white blossoms if he tried to.

Now that he looked around him, he could see the different flora of a darker, colder world. It was not completely black, no- tiny lights made themselves apparent after his eyes adjusted to the dark. They hung in the air around different mushrooms of every color- and shone with a soft light. Not bright, no, not bright- but subtle and cool like moonlight, or raindrops. Hide flicked one lightly, and it flinched from him as if offended before settling in its previous spot.

Hide left the pinpricks of luminescence- glanced around at the towering barbs of tangleweed and rashvine- other plants that he didn't have names for. On the carpet of moss below, many patches of tiny, tiny flowers grew. Hide wondered how they flourished under the oppressive dark. The puny blossoms were deep violet in color, and twitched when Hide ran a gentle finger over their full petals.

 _ **crick**_

Hide nearly fainted when the slight crackling of a rootish plant across from him reached him. Hide scuttled behind one of the larger mushrooms in terror, and after a few moments of silence dared to glance from behind it when the curiosity became too much to bear.

It was another, small bug like himself- though certainly different in insect was lithe in a way Hide had only seen on stilt bugs gathering water beads from the stream. Long, white tendrils that defied gravity flowed in elegant curls, surrounding a young face. Hide noted the tiny points of teeth from thin lips. Its skin was translucent, paper-thin and fragile.

It was more feminine in appearance- still crouched down low, pulling what seemed to be spore pods from a deep green shroom of sorts and storing them in a small bag. Slender legs tipped by the tiniest, delicate cloved claws shifted anxiously. As he watched, it brushed the feathery down away from its forehead in search of more pods.

Suddenly, it paused, and the feathery feelers unfurled to twitch and sense something. Hide shrunk behind the column of the mushroom, afraid of being discovered. The other bug's wide, opaque red eyes were not focused on him, however, but above.

The slender whiskers began to tremble in what Hide could assume was anticipation- and was nowhere near prepared when all of a sudden, the perched beauty was perched no more. It tilted its features to the sky, and-

 **C̯͕̮̖̪̬̖͚̄̿̑R̡̡̢̥̗̝͈͆́Ą̸̜͓̫̰͔̹͉̊́̏c̴͙̯̞̮̫̬k̡̛͈̻̙̝̭̱̻̟̋͛̈*̧̼͓̜̻̂̋**

A long, sharp spiel of black erupted from the feeble chest of the once-poised creature to stab into the moss- and Hide swore he could hear the slightest, quiet wail as its torso crumpled around the talon- and spilled dark, dark blood onto the tiny flowers coating the mossy dirt where the spike met solid ground. The fluid was slurped up by the flowers' long sweeping roots with fervor- and Hide could not, _would_ not look up to see what had smit the wispy insect with such ease.

But he must, or risk the same.

He must.

So he did- forced himself to awe at what he supposed was Death.

Death was a towering thing that lurched over him by a good eight inches- that had long and devastating claws, eight equally long and devastating limbs that starkly compared to the black and black around them with painful whiteness. Prickly down covered a huge abdomen- covering the huge body with flowing, red waves. As he watched, it wrenched the body of the wraith into it's mouth and swallowed it whole, it's juices streaming down a long, bone-white face.

A lone red eye, ringed with black slid shut in the bliss of a morsel of a meal. But there was something nearby...something tasty and very much alive. She could smell it, o **oh** _ **hhhh**_ _-_

She grinned her terrible, terrible grin.

Hide knew as well as the massive predator before him that he could run, and die. Or he could fight, and die.

Hide did what he could.

He ran.

Hide pushed away from the mushroom violently, plunging into the unknown bracken beyond. Whatever lay there could not surpass what now let out a cackling shriek that echoed through his torso and the forest surrounding them. Hide ripped his way through filth and brushwood with no regard to the silence of what lay behind him. He shoved aside thorn and thicket- screamed when the ground was under him no more.

He tumbled and cursed as the short slope came to an end and he was forced back onto his feet, running again- flinching and scattering away from any sound he heard. Pebbles scattered and still, he ran until breath escaped him.

Hide all too soon became aware of the game she played.

He wasn't being chased.

 _ **He was being herded.**_

Hide scrambled a sharp right when a trill directed him left, and took no satisfaction when her angry growl echoed behind him.

The bushes and trees of thorns began to grow thinner, and Hide hoped it meant open air. _Any_ way to escape. The sea of stalks vanished as Hide stumbled on what seemed to be an alcove of braided thorns. It was tall, almost as tall as the mountains of roses itself- and Hide could almost glimpse the edge of a white petal caught in sunlight. Regardless of the pain, Hide again launched himself to the air. Crashing vibrated the mossy ground underneath him when his pursuer ripped down the curtain of vines protecting the opening from outsiders.

Hide let out a scream when those terrible, terrible talons snagged around his waist- and sobbed when those same claws pinned him to the carpet of dark red blossoms and its hungry, flowering cover. Her tips dug into the freckled skin cruelly until his own, red blood oozed the surface. The tendrils of the flower's roots trembled in excitement at the prospect of another meal.

"Oh _h_ _ **hhhh**_ , what pretty red. Such, pretty, pretty red. _Red honey, red honey~!_ " She simpered, her claws pressed bruisingly into his wounds, wrenching a scream from an already hoarse throat. Spittle slobbered from her gaping maw that drew close to a breakable, tanned leg. Her teeth scraped along the limb, teasing in her meal.

Hide had two options. Lay limp, and die.

Fight her.

and die.

She, on the other hand, did not anticipate the third option, when another's echoing wail reached the clearing. The fragile thing she had been chasing was now limp and unconscious in her grasp- and so caught up in the pursuit of the strange little sweetbug she had been, it had led her to ignore when she had trampled over the red, hungry spider-lilies that marked the edge of a darker part of the forest.

She rumbled nervously, debating to herself if the little bug was worth it when the clicking and clacking of so, so many legs rung clearer. Closer.

No, it was not worth it, she decided, and flicked the now immobile yellow thing to the side in hopes of sidelining whatever- _whoever's_ territory she had encroached. She leapt for the hole she had made in that waterfall of red flowers to the borderlines where she knew her way.

It never let her get that far.

A barbed appendage- seemingly from nowhere- tore off two of her limbs at the base, tripping and staggering the brute. A wail ripped its way out of her throat and was swallowed by the soaked web of twisters around them, absorbed by the other's own roar of anger.

The sunlight that trickled into the clearing was muffled suddenly- shadowed by something whose body was massive enough to shadow the entire glade of red, red blossoms.

The light was flushed like fowl to fire, plunging everything into pitch. Everything was lost under those violet and crimson, twistering limbs that swallowed the sunshine. In the washing dark, she attempted again to flail madly in escape.

With no time to even comprehend what had happened- a blur in front of her, a pale, taloned hand pulling her slender neck towards them. She gasped for air and pitifully grasped the hand around her throat with her own, whimpering when those black nails dug deep into the fragile exoskeleton.

The newcomer was paler than even herself, haunting and morose in his beauty. A look of apathy graced his masked expression- which was focused on the black blood drooling from his fingers. She swallowed; flinching at the sting.

A sting that was very quickly becoming a burn, and a pyre.

 _ **"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURSTSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPOHHHPLEASESTOPPLEASE-"**_

The howl rung like thunder through the glade, and he merely tilted his head in curiosity.

 _"_ It seems I have an infestation, _"_ he hummed, nonchalant of her pleading, _"_ but you trash hardly ever decide to come to me, instead of the other way around...so tell me, miss, why?" his claws extended; his delight to peirce slowly, _ever so slowly_ into her throat's porcelain shell was interrupted by the centipede's newfound notice of the tiny prey she had been in the process of eating when Kaneki had found her trampling his seclude.

It was a frail little thing- hardly a morsel, and certainly not something worth losing limbs over. As he watched, it began to tremble- extending slim, lacy wings that caught the muffled light. In a moment of curiosity, he allowed his many, many tails to let sunshine again flood the bloodthirsty flowers and their new addition.

It flinched when light was upon it again- frail wings twitching and curling. He watched as it gained the courage to glance at him- smiled when it fell over itself to run, and subsequently flat falling when its sprained leg made itself known. The poor thing was lucky there was nothing broken from the wench's rough handling.

Kaneki ran a finger over his own smile, wondering.

 _What fun this should be._

His entire being shuddered with the desire to _have_ \- his tails shivered all the way to their prongs in anticipation. The female's blubbering was lost on the new predator, and ceased when his fingers dug into her airway harshly. He made shushing noises, as if admonishing a small bug, as if he knew any facade of kindness. _"Shhh, shh..."_ he mumbled, absent minded even while her black blood bubbled from where his fingers punctured her throat. She whimpered again, and those fingers pulled away, only to clutch her by her short bangs and dig into her scalp.

The other simply lifted their free hand to poise in front of their lips in a childish 'shush' gesture, smiling serenely.

 _ **"I̧͚̬̯̙͍̾̑́͗̂'̷̛̮̭͉m̸̡͇ w̸̛̳͓̻͎̲̩à̵̙̣ṭ̵̛̲c̮͍͙̗̪͆h̝̙̜̰̓̊i̢̟̜͎̮͍̖͎͑ņ͎̪̭͚̎͐ḡ̥̖͉̠. S̷̛̳͕͔͓̳̜̅̆͆̈o̢ ş̬̰̗̱̺h̻͙͕̯͒͐̈ü̡̙͎̟̭t̸̡̲͔̘͚̘̞̓ y̡̧o̹̭͇̪ų̤̳͍ŕ̵̙̰ m̧͉͚̲̳̘o̵̘̯̬̼ü̵͔t̶̨̩̖h̶̢̝̯̻, .̧̧̟̩̬p̴̝̳̤l̤e̢̞̯ȃ̶s̸̛̙̪̗e̸̢.̬̥͎̝"**_

That Hide was freaking the fuck out would be a severe underestimation of how hysteric he could become. His wings were frozen in place, body wracked with shudders that would not stop. Even now, he could feel the bruises forming on his skin from where her massive pincers had pinned him down, could feel the burn of where her claws had cut his sides. His left leg was crippled- broken or otherwise, he did not know.

A sickening ripping sound left his chest heaved with sobs, and he wished he had not glanced over at the pair.

The new insect- arachnid or spider or _what_ , Hide did not know. It was, however, smaller than the other- almost the same size as Hide, but the monstrous twister of tails made up for more than enough in intimidation. As he watched, it closed its drenched fist and _pulled_.

A shower of black liquid poured onto the roots at their feet, and the flowers drank.

Hide thought he saw the white haired boy whisper something to the other, before dropping the trashed carcass to the flowers.

And turned to Hide.

Hide sucked in a panicked breath, shivering violently on the spot as the other boy came ever closer. The sea of violet and crimson barbed tails waved and curled curiously. Hide watched as that rigid mask melted like ice, to reveal the young, handsome face below. Hide was so absorbed in observing the young man's chiseled, if weary, face he did not notice that the white haired centipede was speaking. To _him_.

"-don't mean to startle you, you know. I don't bite." laughed the other, lightly and gently. He extended a slim hand to the other, gauging the blonde's reaction.

Hide blinked.

Kaneki smiled.

"You..." the blonde swallowed, "You aren't going t-to..."

Kaneki shook his head patiently, dropping the offered hand.

Hide let out a shaky breath. "O-oh." he mumbled, subdued. Kaneki crouched down to meet the blonde's eye level, and reached out again to touch, regardless of the blonde's flinch.

Such a flighty little thing.

"What a-about her? Isn't she one of you? W-why did you..."

Kaneki made an affronted noise- glancing over at the mentioned carnivore being absorbed by the red lilies- "She is not my kin, I'm afraid." he smiled, serene, "But I suppose on some level we might be related, in diet only perhaps." a finger laid on Hide's soft lips, plush things that gave way under the centipede's slightest touch.

Kaneki shivered. What a marvelous creature he had in his grasp- delicate, so _fragile_.

Hide did not flinch away this time, somewhat at ease with the white haired young man. He managed a tiny smile, and was surprised when the other did, too. With sunlight now flooding the meadow of red, he could see the kind grey eyes of the other, and their gentle face. Hide could have mistaken him for one of his own.

He did, however, yelp when Kaneki pulled his leg to eyeview, inspecting.

"You have a swollen ankle." He noted in a serious voice, nodding, "And from what I can see, your wing is twisted..." He murmured, coming to his decision as he watched the blonde's rounded, honey eyes widen. He thumbed the wing gently, smoothing out a few of the creases and didn't miss the slight blush that flitted over the blonde's cheeks.

"I-Is it broken?" Hide ventured worriedly, fear beginning to reappear, "I h-have to get back to my colony!"

Kaneki chuckled, and set the wounded leg gently down, moving to inspect the claw marks littering his treasure's sides. He frowned at a particulary deep scratch.

No, this wouldn't do at all.

"No, it will heal. But you will need to rest for a while. No flying." Kaneki said kindly.

Dread began to creep through Hide, and a quick glance at the ring of orange above them confirmed that it was, indeed, getting late. How had he not noticed? The white haired boy next to him smiled.

Maliciously, perhaps, but Hide didn't have to know that.

"You are welcome to rest in my alcove. It is protected, and I always keep nectar there for the winter. I assume you are a non-carnivorous species, correct?"

"Well, yeah! I mean, I am, b-but is it really okay? I've caused you trouble already..."

"I insist. Furthermore, since you were injured on my territory, it's proper that I attend to you. Is that...alright?"

Hide tried to suppress the heat creeping on his cheeks, and nodded shyly. "I s-suppose. Th-thank you."

Kaneki stood up, and offered his arm to the blonde. "...May I?" he asked, gently. Hide stared at the extended hand, before taking it, gingerly, as if those same hands did not wrench a body apart minutes before. He gasped when Kaneki pulled him up, into his arms. He tried to stop the mad blush of embarrassment, but the tips of his ears still burned.

Kaneki smiled.

Well, there's the end of chapter one! I don't know where to go with this, so I'll be intently awaiting your reviews...(๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

I need a beta reader...:(


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